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Munich (dpa) - Three years after the start of the investigation against the director Dieter Wedel, a complaint against the public prosecutor Munich I was rejected because of the long duration.
"The handling of the case is not objectionable," said a spokesman for the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office, which had decided on the complaint, of the German press agency.
"The supervisory complaint was not followed up."
The Munich I Public Prosecutor's Office has been investigating Wedel (“The Great Bellheim”) on charges of rape since 2018.
The former actress Jany Tempel accuses him of forcing her to have sex in a Munich hotel in the summer of 1996.
At that time she was 27 years old and wanted to audition for a role.
In 2018, three ex-actresses accused Wedel in "Zeit-Magazin" of having sexually harassed her in the 90s.
The case became the best known in the German MeToo debate that started in 2017.
Wedel denies the allegations against him.
In 2018 he told the "Bild" newspaper: "I'm now glad that this investigation is underway.
I trust the public prosecutor. "
After the allegations became known, he resigned as director of the Bad Hersfeld Festival.
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Tempel's attorney Alexander Stevens had filed the regulatory complaint against the Munich I public prosecutor because of the length of the investigation.
«It simply cannot be that criminal proceedings have now dragged on for almost three years.
This is unacceptable both from the point of view of victim protection and from the point of view of the rights of the accused. "
Stevens told the dpa: "My client now thinks this is a farce."
Three years ago she received the inquiry from the criminal police.
"The Weinstein case in the US was much more complex," said Stevens.
"And that is long since closed."
Allegations against the US film producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault and abuse of power had triggered the global MeToo movement.
However, the investigating Attorney General did not share this view.
The long duration can be justified - among other things because "a lot of witnesses abroad, who only gradually became known, were heard", as a spokesman for the authority said.
In addition, a testimonial psychological report was created, which also took a relatively long time.
In addition, there were also deadlines for comments.
"And the time of the crime was a long time ago, which makes the investigation difficult."
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It is still unclear how long it will take to decide whether the Munich I public prosecutor will bring charges against Wedel or stop the investigation.
"It doesn't just depend on the public prosecutor's office how quickly the investigation goes," emphasized the agency's spokeswoman, Anne Leiding.
“We are nevertheless confident that we will be able to conclude the procedure soon.
Of course, the corona restrictions don't make it any easier for us. "
She couldn't give an exact time.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210128-99-200718 / 2